The present invention relates generally to discharge valves for washbasins and other fixtures, and more specifically to a ball-and-socket joint arrangement for easy and leakproof introduction of a swivel movement of a siphon or actuating pin or other lever into the interior of the sanitary discharge valve housing or the like.
Discharge valves of washbasins and tubs frequently have ball-and-socket joint arrangements in order to introduce a control movement coming from a control fitting for raising or lowering a valve stopper from the outside into the inside of the valve housing. These valve housings have a tubular socket projecting laterally approximately in the horizontal direction, on the free end region of which a spherical zone type of sealing surface is provided. Resting against the sealing surface is a plastic ball which sits on a siphon pin for the valve stopper. A screw cap, also having a spherical zone type of contact surface resting against the spherical part, is screwed on the socket, for the purpose of pressing the spherical part against the sealing surface.
Since the forces acting on the siphon or actuating pin for the control of the valve are very small, the screw cap must not be screwed too tight. The result of this is that, in particular where the discharge is blocked downstream of the socket, the ball-and-socket joint arrangement is not leakproof or, if the screw cap is tightened to achieve a leakproof seal, the discharge valve cannot be operated anymore. Additionally, the known ball-and-socket joint arrangements are expensive to manufacture and install.
The object of the present invention is therefore to propose a ball-and-socket joint arrangement for leakproof introduction of a swivel movement of the siphon pin into the interior of a drain housing which is reliably leakproof and is still easy to operate, and which is less expensive to manufacture and simpler to install.